Page 84 - Reading Between the Sign Intercultural Communication for Sign Language Interpreters

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Do Americans Really

Have a Culture?

I remember the moment well. It was during my first semester
studying intercultural communication at San Francisco State Uni-
versity. As Professor Dean C. Barnlund enumerated various Ameri-
can cultural values and behaviors, I found myself fidgeting in my
seat. “Excuse me,” I interrupted, “something is really bothering
me. You keep saying that these are typical American values, but I
don’t consider myself a typical American.” Professor Barnlund
eyed me calmly, “That,” he replied, “is a typically American thing
to say.”
If you feel that you do not particularly identify with American
culture, you are not alone. We Americans are notorious for our
unwillingness to acknowledge that our perceptions and behaviors
are culturally influenced. To many Americans, culture is some-
thing that other countries have which makes them either interest-
ing to visit or in need of our aid. Many of us don’t realize that we,
too, have a culture. Like most of the world’s inhabitants, we feel
that the way we do things in our country is the right way to do
them. Members of certain nationalities insist that their superior
culture has passed down the proper ways of behaving (think of
the French pride in their language, art, and cuisine). Many Ameri-
cans, on the other hand, assume that any values they hold, they
have individually selected.

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